Thursday, February 28, 2013

The funeral

The fallen men were brought back on their horses. The sheer number of them told the townfolk just how bad the battle had been. The unit sent had return with barely half their number. These men had fought valiantly to rid the roads of the marauding orc tribe and their goblin henchmen, now they were dead.

The celebration of the victory would not overshadow their death. The people would celebrate tonight, and tomorrow all the proper honors would be paid to these brave men and their bodies handled as a true hero deserves. Funeral pyres will be built tomorrow and at sun set their bodies placed on top and the fires lit.

The pyres would burn all night while the priests do all the rituals to ensure a safe passage to the after life. Chanting, signing and making sacrifices to the gods, the priests will help these brave men onto their last journey.

How do you handle character death in your game? Is there a time when you don't use magic to bring the character back? If you don't bring him back from the dead, what part does the character take in the last bit of role play left for him? Do you tuck the character sheet in the back of a folder or do you play out the funeral and all proper ceremonies to ensure a good afterlife?